AFGHANISTAN: Roadside bombs kill 30 Afghan civilians

KABUL, Afghanistan — The deaths of 13 people when a van struck buried bombs Saturday brought the civilian toll from IEDs in Afghanistan to 30 in two days, officials said.

A spokesman for the government in Zabul province said four women and four children were among the casualties, the Los Angeles Times reported. A police official told CNN the dead were travelers on the way to Pakistan.

Both civilian and military casualties have risen recently as the Taliban’s use of improvised explosive devices has gone up, the Times said. In May, as the Taliban began their spring fighting, 368 civilians were killed, the United Nations said, the highest monthly toll in at least five years.

Four people were killed Friday in Kandahar province. Police said two people died when their donkey set off a buried bomb, and two people who tried to help them died when a second bomb detonated.

Thirteen people were killed Thursday and more than 30 hurt by a bomb in Nimroz province.

NATO reported one soldier was killed Friday and a second Saturday. The Italian news media said the casualty Saturday was from Italy.